‘Gigaba’s office gave fast visa order’
The instruction to fast-track the Guptas’ and their associates’ visas came from home affairs minister Malusi Gigaba’s office early in 2015‚ according to a senior department official.
Major Kobese told stunned MPs at the ongoing parliamentary inquiry into the early naturalisation of Gupta family members that he received a call from Gigaba’s chief of staff early in 2015 asking him to assist Gupta associate Ashu Chawla.
Kobese is a former director in the department’s foreign office responsible for co-ordination and support.
The leaked Gupta e-mails showed that Chawla‚ the chief executive officer of the Guptacontrolled Sahara Computers‚ used Kobese as his connection at the home affairs department to secure preferential treatment on the processing of visas for the Guptas and their associates in India.
“Me knowing Mr Chawla didn’t just arise from the sky or drop from the sky‚” Kobese told MPs on Tuesday.
He said he received a call from a Thami Msomi‚ Gigaba’s chief of staff‚ who said: “There is this Mr Chawla who is the CEO of Sahara and at Sahara they have got problems with visas in embassies and that they are taking longer for missions to finalise the visas and that is going to impact on the movement of the business that we are inviting.”
Kobese said Msomi asked him to ensure that he was able to assist when it became necessary to fast-track those applicants. It was normal practice for people who were frustrated with visa delays to inquire at the minister’s office and the office would interact with the department to assist the client.
It was also common for staff in the minister’s office to speak directly to officials‚ instead of going through the directorgeneral‚ who was the administrative head of the department‚ he said.
Kobese revealed there were no existing Gupta applications at the time he received the call‚ but it was for future reference.
“At the time I got a call‚ it’s not that there were applications that were stuck‚ it was to say‚ ‘There is this person who experiences problems.
‘This person is going to liaise with you. Can you ensure that in future where there are problems‚ you are able to assist?’” he said. –